Training blades for ice skates



Feb. 4, 1964 H. LEPKOFKE-R TRAINING BLADES FOR ICE SKATES 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 19.1 21962 INVENTORS HERMAN LEPKOFKER {(JOHN ZWAHLEN B Feb. 4, 1964 H. LEPKOFKER 3,120,397

TRAINING BLADES FOR'ICE SKATES Filed Nov. 19, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS ERMAN LEPKOFKER BY JOHN ZWAHLEN ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,120,397 TRAINING BLADES FOR ICE SKATES Herman Lepkofker, 1659 E. 12th St., Brooklyn 1, N.Y., and John Zwahlen, 22 E. 96th St., Brooklyn 12, N.Y. Filed Nov. 19, 1962, Ser. No. 238,465 6 Claims. (Cl. 2801l.12)

This invention concerns training blades or runners for ice skates.

A principal object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary runner or runners attachable to an ice skate for supporting in balanced condition an inexperienced skaters foot.

Another object is to provide a training device which can be quickly applied to an ice skate when required for training purposes and which can be quickly partially or entirely removed as the skater gains experience in skating.

A further object is to provide an attachment for an ice skate which will support a skaters ankle and will prevent twisting and strain if the ankle tends to weaken while skating.

A still further object is to provide a simple rugged, low cost training device for an ice skate.

For further comprehension of the invention, and of the objects and advantages thereof, reference will be had to the following description and accompanying drawings, and to the appended claims in which the various novel features of the invention are more particularly set forth.

In the accompanying drawings forming a material part of this disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational View of a skaters shoe with an ice skate embodying the invention attached thereto.

FIG. 2 is a bottom plan view of the heel portion of the skate.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view on an enlarged scale of parts of the skate.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown the training device including two similar runners 12 12 which are reverse or mirror images of each other. Each runner includes an elongated flat body or blade 14. The blade has an enlarged rounded forward end 18 and a narrower tapered rear end 20. Each blade has a flat rectangular plate portion 24 extending upwardly between opposite ends of the blade. This plate portion has two parallel inwardly extending flanges 28 defining a channel therebetween which slidably receives a first rectangular plate portion 30 of a bracket 35. An elongated slot 32 is formed in plate portion 24. This slot has edges 33 pressed outwardly to receive an outwardly pressed tubular tit 36 formed in plate portion 30 of the bracket.

The bracket has an elongated plate portion 33 provided with holes 40 near opposite ends. Plate portion 38 is held parallel to and spaced from plate portion 30 by a rectangular spacer plate section 44 perpendicular to plate portions 35) and 38. A threaded bolt 46 is inserted through tubular tit 36 and slot 32 and is engaged by a wing nut 48.

The training device 10 is adapted to be removably attached to an ice skate 50 shown secured to a skaters shoe 52 in FIG. 1. The skate 50 comprises an elongated blade or runner 54, a sole supporting front plate 56 and a heel supporting rear plate 58. The sole supporting plate 56 is connected to the blade 54 by means of a front curved upwardly extending post or web 60 formed with teeth 62 on its front edge, and by means of an intermediate upstanding post or web 64. The heel supporting plate 58 is connected to the blade 54 by a rear post or web 66. Attachment of the training device is accomplished by clamping the brackets 35 to one of the connecting posts or webs, for example, the rear post or web 66. For this purpose, the plate portions 38 are placed on opposite sides of the post or web 66 so that the perforated ends of the plates project beyond the post or web. Bolts 68 are then passed through the aligned holes 40 in the plate portions 38 and through nuts 70 welded on one side of the plate portions thereby drawing the plate portions toward each other in tight clamping engagement with the post or web 66, as shown in FIG. 3. The training device It) may be attached to intermediate post 64 if desired.

It will be noted that the runners 12 12 can be independently adjusted on opposite sides of the blade 54 to locate the bottom edges of the runners different distances from the plane of the bottom edge 72 of blade 54. This adjustment is made possible by the elongated slots 32 in the plate portions 24 of the two runners. The flanges 28 prevent the runners from twisting in their planes with respect to the brackets and insure that the bottom edges of the runners remain parallel to each other and to edge 74 of the blade 54. 7

If desired, either one of the runners 12 or 12 and its holding bracket can be removed as the skater gains experience and no longer tends to turn his ankle inwardly or outwardly. Later the remaining runner can be removed from the skate when the skater no longer needs any training attachment. For most effective use, the device with two training runners will be installed initially with their lower long edges located slightly above the plane of blade edge 72. As the skater gains experience, both runners will be positioned higher and higher with respect to blade edge 72. Later one runner may be removed and finally both runners will be removed.

The device thus serves as an adjustable means for training an ice skater, which device can be accommo dated to the different stages of skating experience and ability of the skater. The device employs simple parts which can be readily and inexpensively replaced. The device can be mounted on skates having flat or tubular web 64, 66.

It will be noted that the runners 12, 12 are completely out of the way of the front end of the skate so that the skater can execute all normal skating movements without any interference from the runners. The runners can be easily and quickly installed without requiring any special tools or any particular skill. The device is preferably made of metal but its several parts can be made of strong, rigid, durable plastic material.

While We have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise construction herein disclosed and that various changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. An ice skate training device, comprising an elongated blade having a broad rounded forward end and a narrow tapered rear end, said blade having an integral flat rectangular extension with inwardly turned opposing parallel flange elements defining a channel therebetween, a bracket having a first rectangular plate portion slidably disposed on said rectangular extension and engaged in the channel between the flange elements to prevent twisting in the plate of said plate portion, said extension having an elongated slot, said plate portion having a hole therein registering with said slot, a bolt extending through the slot and hole and engaged by a wing nut, said bracket having another rectangular plate portion held spaced from and parallel to the first plate portion by an integral spacer plate section, said other plate portion having other holes at opposite ends for receiving other bolts to secure the bracket to a blade of an ice skate.

2. An ice skate training device, comprising a pair of similar elongated flat runners, each runner having a broad rounded forward end and a narrow tapered rear end, each said runner having an integral flat rectangular extension with inwardly turned opposing parallel flange elements defining a channel therebetween, a pair of brackets, each bracket having a first rectangular plate portion slidably disposed on said rectangular extension and engaged in the channel between the flange elements to prevent twisting in the plate of said plate portion, each said extension having an elongated slot, each said plate portion having a hole therein registering with said slot, a bolt extending through each slot and hole and engaged by a wing nut, each said bracket having another rectangular plate portion held spaced from and parallel to the first plate portion by an integral spacer plate section, said other plate portion having other holes at opposite ends for receiving other bolts to secure the bracket to a blade of an ice skate.

3. An ice skate training device, comprising a pair of similar elongated flat runners, each runner having a broad rounded forward end and a narrow tapered rear end, each said runner having an integral flat rectangular extension with inwardly turned opposing parallel flange elements defining a channel therebetween, a pair of brackets, each bracket having a first rectangular plate portion slidably disposed on said rectangular extension and engaged in the channel between the flange elements to prevent twisting in the plate of said plate portion, each said extension having an elongated slot, each said plate portion having a hole therein registering with said slot, a bolt extending through each slot and hole and engaged by a wing nut, each said bracket having another rectangular plate portion held spaced from and parallel to the first plate portion by an integral spacer plate section, said other plate portion having other holes at opposite ends for receiving other bolts to secure the bracket to a blade of an ice skate, each said slot being defined by pressed out edges of the blade extension, the hole in each said first plate portion being defined by an outwardly extending tubular tit engaging the edges of said slot, for guiding relative sliding adjusting movements of each plate and associated bracket.

4. An ice skate training device, comprising a pair of similar elongated flat runners, each runner having a broad rounded forward end and a narrow tapered rear end, each said runner having an integral flat rectangular extension with inwardly turned opposing parallel flange elements defining a channel therebetween, a pair of brackets, each bracket having a first rectangular plate portion slidably disposed on said rectangular extension and engaged in the channel between the flange elements to prevent twisting in the channelof said plate portion, each said extension having an elongated slot, each said plate portion having a hole therein registering with said slot, a bolt extending through each slot and hole and engaged by a wing nut, each said bracket having another rectangular plate portion held spaced from and parallel to the first plate portion by an integral spacer plate section, each said other plate portion having other holes at opposite ends thereof, and bolts engageable in said other holes for removably securing both brackets to opposite sides of the ice skate.

5. An ice skate training device, comprising an elongated runner having a broad rounded forward end and a narrow tapered rear end, said runner having an integral flat rectangular extension with inwardly turned opposing parallel flange elements defining a channel therebetween, a bracket having a first rectangular plate portion slidably disposed on said rectangular extension and engaged in the channel between the flange elements to prevent twisting in the channel of said plate portion, said extension having an elongated slot, said plate portion having a hole therein registering with said slot, a bolt extending through the slot and hole and engaged by a wing nut, said bracket having another rectangular plate portion held spaced from and parallel to the first plate portion by an integral spacer plate section, said other plate portion having other holes at opposite ends thereof, and bolts engageable in said ther holes for removably securing said other plate portion to one side of a blade of an ice skate.

6. An ice skate training device, comprising an elongated runner having a broad rounded forward end and a narrow tapered rear end, said runner having an integral fiat rectangular extension with inwardly turned opposing parallel flanges defining a channel therebetween, a bracket having a first rectangular plate portion slidably disposed on said rectangular extension and engaged in the channel between the flange elements to prevent twisting in the channel of said plate portion, said extension having an elongated slot, said plate portion having a hole therein registering with said slot, a bolt extending through the slot and hole and engaged by a wing nut, said bracket having another rectangular plate portion held spaced from and parallel to the first plate portion by an integral spacer plate section, said other plate portion having other holes at opposite ends for receiving other bolts to secure the bracket to the ice skate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,094,434 Golden Apr. 28, 1914 1,212,855 Wachs Jan. 16, 1917 1,591,778 Radus July 6, 1926 2,867,445 Lachat Jan. 6, 1959 2,917,315 Mihalik Dec. 15, 1959 2,920,897 Jensen Jan. 12, 1960 

1. AN ICE SKATE TRAINING DEVICE, COMPRISING AN ELONGATED BLADE HAVING A BROAD ROUNDED FORWARD END AND A NARROW TAPERED REAR END, SAID BLADE HAVING AN INTEGRAL FLAT RECTANGULAR EXTENSION WITH INWARDLY TURNED OPPOSING PARALLEL FLANGE ELEMENTS DEFINING A CHANNEL THEREBETWEEN, A BRACKET HAVING A FIRST RECTANGULAR PLATE PORTION SLIDABLY DISPOSED ON SAID RECTANGULAR EXTENSION AND ENGAGED IN THE CHANNEL BETWEEN THE FLANGE ELEMENTS TO PREVENT TWISTING IN THE PLATE OF SAID PLATE PORTION, SAID EXTENSION HAVING AN ELONGATED SLOT; SAID PLATE PORTION HAVING A HOLE THEREIN REGISTERING WITH SAID SLOT, A BOLT EXTENDING THROUGH THE SLOT AND HOLE AND ENGAGED BY A WING NUT, SAID BRACKET HAVING ANOTHER RECTANGULAR PLATE PORTION HELD SPACED FROM AND PARALLEL TO THE FIRST PLATE PORTION BY AN INTEGRAL SPACER PLATE SECTION, SAID OTHER PLATE PORTION HAVING OTHER HOLES AT OPPOSITE ENDS FOR RECEIVING OTHER BOLTS TO SECURE THE BRACKET TO A BLADE OF AN ICE SKATE. 